Gannett bids for Tribune Publishing

The owner of USAToday wants to buy the publisher of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune for $815 million. Tribune Publishing says it'll review the bid. Fred Katayama reports.

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Gannett going public with its aim to gobble up the publisher of the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times. It's offering to buy Tribune Publishing for $815 million and assume its debt of $390 million. That's a premium of more than sixty percent based on the shares' closing price Friday. Gannett says, Tribune refused to begin constructive talks after making its proposal April 12. Tribune said Monday it's reviewing the bid and will respond as quickly as feasible.
Gannett, which was spun off from its TV business, publishes USAToday, local dailies like the Detroit Free Press and Des Moines Register and owns other media properties. It says a combination would bring financial stability to two companies in an - in its words - "uncertain time" for the media industry.
Macquarie Research analyst Matthew Brooks said, "Given the uncertainty of a turnaround in a secularly declining business, we think Tribune Publishing will eventually take the offer."
Tribune Publishing's stock has only gone south since it was split off from its broadcast division. The stock, which is down sixty percent since mid-July, skyrocketed in early trading.

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